“We are inviting the whole community in Oct. 20. We have Dr. Edwin Chelli from India coming in. We have a lot of work that we have been doing in India, so he will be with us that morning,” Brown said.

Brown said Oral Anderson will be the speaker for the service of the World Mission Conference.

“We will also have Oral Anderson, who is a missionary in India as well, who will be with us in the evening service,” Brown said.

Brown said Anderson has an interesting background.

“He grew up in Jamaica, Pastors a church in Jamaica. His wife is Indian, and they will be going back to India. We are privileged to have them here.”

According to Brown, Shining Light Night is set for Oct. 31 at the church as an alternative to traditional customs of Halloween.

“We have Shining Light stations all over Portsmouth. Our people provide candy and information, and we are able to reach a whole lot more people that way. We have an open house whenever we do an event like this,” Brown said.

Brown said the objective with Shining Light Night is to counteract negativity associated with Halloween.

“As we identify with the positive things, kids can get dressed, have some candy without promoting all of the other negative things that are associated with Halloween,” Brown said.

Tours of the church will be given during Shining Light Night as well as games, recreation and refreshments.

“We like to let people inside and let them see what is going on and just have a nice time,” Brown said.

Brown said he and his congregation are excited about the renovation of the gymnasium.

“Ordinarily this would have been three building projects for us. The auditorium would have been Phase 1. Phase 2 would have been the educational phase. Phase 3 would have been the gymnasium. And so, to be able to get all of those three things in one move is just exciting,” Brown said.

With the gymnasium, the church now can expand to host events simultaneously.

“We also have a gymnasium and a fellowship hall and having both allows us to have two events to go on at the same time,” Brown said.

He said they have been able to play basketball and volleyball in the new gymnasium and hope to start a youth basketball league in the near future.

Brown said it is God that has blessed Calvary Baptist Church to complete the project.

“We are so blessed, it has just been the hand of God. We will just continue to try to reach the community with the gospel of Jesus Christ,” Brown said.

Portia Williams may be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 286 or portiawilliams@civitasmedia.com. For breaking news, follow Portia on Twitter @PortiaWillPDT.